World Mental Health Day Exclusive| Taapsee: I’m not going to romanticise trolling with fancy lines about knowing your self worth | Hindustan Times

On World Mental Health Day actor Taapsee Pannu admits, “Like many of us in India I used to think mental health support is required when you go crazy but slowly grew up to understand it’s got dimensions more than that. I thought one approaches a therapist when touching clinical depression stage or when one cannot express what one is feeling but I realised mental health is also about being in the present and finding peace in what you have. If you aren’t at peace you constantly feel unstable and that’s what showbiz can make you feel.”She goes on to say that Covid changed a lot of things for her because it put her physical activity at rest. She says, “Earlier I would channel my mental anxiety and anxiousness into physical activity by engaging into more work or go outside and engage in some activity or sport to avoid facing my anxiety or be by myself. I would tell myself I’m overthinking and would rush to focus on my job. During Covid, like everyonelse I was forced to spend time with myself and realised I need to take care of my mental health better. “Taapsee points out that being a part of showbiz dealing with trolling and personal attacks is not easy. “I’m not going to romanticise it with fancy lines about knowing your self worth. No matter how strong you are when your job and standing is largely dependant on everyonelses perception of you, what they say and feel about you, it’s never easy. It was way more harsh in the beginning for me, not just in terms of career but also when I got on social media. She adds people’s two seconds of attention can cause actors a lot of mental health damage. “I was trying this impossible task to make everyone happy. I got burnt out and it took me years to accept the situation. I realised I wasted years trying to appease trolls rather than spending that time working on myself as an actor or human being. I sacrificed a lot of time and braincells to understand this but sometimes trolling still affects me,” says Taapsee. She adds that media portals that tear actors down also affects their state of mind.She agrees that social media has made actors more vulnerable to anxeity and comparisn. She expalins, “Exploitation of celebs is now more availiable to make a joke about but it affects everyone. We even have trolls questioning why does this actor get opportunities, existential questions are discussed by people who I’m not sure are qualified to question someone’s profession. It has made actors vulnerable and the repercussion is that actors stopped using social media to display their true selves. They have started displaying the persona that people like more and sells more. You aren’t connecting with a human being but a brand." She goes on to reveal why she decided to be inactive on social media. “I disconnected with social media after a point because I couldn’t be dishonest about the person I am. I had the choice of being inactive on social media or being battered mentally so I chose the first option,” says the actor.She also admits that she has taken therapy and is glad it isn’t taboo anymore. “The characters I play are mentally exhausting so I would travel somewhere where I could disconnect and forget about my work life. When Covid happened I didn’t have that privilege and had to face my demons. I became more vulnerable and sensitive thats when I took some therapy sessions to learn the art of dealing with myself without running away," says Taapsee.